NOVEMBER 30, 2018, KEIZERTIMES, PAGE B1
KEIZERTIMES.COM
M c N A R Y B OY S VA R S I T Y B A S K E T B A L L P R E V I E W :
Starting lineup has four new faces
By DEREK WILEY
Of the Keizertimes
Last January, Boston Smith
had his coming out party,
posting a double-double of 18
points and 10 rebounds in a 61-
54 win over West Salem.
With the graduation of
the Celtics other four starters,
McNary is going to need a
similar effort from Smith every
game.
“It's a lot different with team
chemistry and different players
in different roles,” Smith said.
“But I think we're going to
have a strong inside-out game.
There's defi nitely more pressure
to step into a leadership role this
year. I feel really confi dent.”
McNary head coach Ryan
Kirch believes the 6-foot-
7 senior, who averaged 8.24
points and 3.64 rebounds per
game last season, is up to the
task.
“I think Boston is ready
to take that next step,” Kirch
said. “He'll be the best post
player in the league by far. I'm
anticipating him being a First
Team all league player.”
Seniors Alfredo Villarreal and
Griffi n Oliveira, bench players
in the Celtics regular rotation,
return and should play much
more this season.
“Fredo and Griffi n had a
lot of varsity experience last
year but their roles obviously
change,” Kirch said. “We'll look
to the three of them (Smith,
Villarreal and Oliveira) for
leadership and all three have
done a really good job so far.”
Another
senior, Noah
Hudkins, was in the starting
lineup to open the season but
out of the rotation by the end
of the year.
“He played a lot smaller than
he is and this fall has worked
at playing bigger and has done
a nice job,” Kirch said of the
6-foot-6 senior. “I'd really like
to see him get more minutes
on the fl oor. If we can play him
and Boston together, it gives us
a height advantage.”
Junior Walling, who averaged
nearly three rebounds per game
off the bench last season, will
also be a valuable asset in the
post.
Nate Meithof, a sophomore
who averaged nearly 30 points
per game on the freshman team
last season, will play his fi rst
varsity minutes.
McNary
won
the
Greater Valley Conference
championship last season and
has averaged 19 wins over
the past four seasons. But the
Celtics can't count on previous
years results as they move to a
new league.
“Having the success we've
had now for four or fi ve years,
it's sort of the expectation that
everyone has when they come
into our program and we're
proud of that,” Kirch said.
“But it's making sure that guys
understand you just don't roll
the ball out and compete at the
highest level. There's a certain
energy that it takes to put that
in.”
With the success of the
program, McNary also had
more boys tryout this season, 77
overall, including 37 freshmen.
Kirch was able to keep 34 for
the three teams—varsity, JV and
freshman.
“At the beginning of the year
you don't like to set anything in
stone and put competition on
everything and make guys earn
it,” Kirch said. “Every year is so
different with the personalities
and the group of kids. The
key is molding them together
whatever way you can.”
While one of McNary's
strengths has been defense, the
Celtics aren't quite there yet.
“We're going to need to
learn to shoot a little bit better
on the perimeter and I think
this group defensively, we're not
as strong or as physical as we've
been the past four years,” Kirch
said.
McNary opens the 2018-19
season at Madison High School
in Portland on Dec. 7 at 7:15
p.m.
The Celtics fi rst home
game is Dec. 18 at 7:15 against
Mountainside.
RIGHT: Alfredo Villareal will
take on more minutes and a
greater role this season.
MIDDLE: 6-foot-7 Boston
Smith looks to become First
Team all league at the post.
LEFT: Coach Kirch is looking
to Senior Griffi n Olivera and
others to take on leadership.
File Photos
A fi shing guide is well worth the money
“Two hundred dollars for a
fi shing trip?” John sputters. “I
can buy fresh fi sh for $12.00 a
pound at the market.”
John has never experienced
watching his best friend wrestle
a 364-pound halibut from
the depths of Alaska’s pristine
waters, or, been deep into the
wilderness, sweat dripping from
palms, gripping a large bore
rifl e, as ivory tipped antlers of a
magnifi cent bull elk come into
range.
Professional guides can make
these unforgettable experiences
happen for regular folks that
can’t afford $80,000 boats or a
pack string of horses. No way
you can place a price tag on
experiences like these.
The average working person
doesn’t need a lot of money
to enjoy some great outdoor
experiences they cannot do on
their own.
John could afford the services
of a guide. He loves to fi sh and
hunt. As an avid golfer, he could
afford a weekend at courses like
Bandon-By-The-Sea. So he
certainly could handle some
guided trips.
If you expect to harvest
enough fi sh/game to pay for
your trip, you are missing the
by G.I. Wilson
Submitted
Wilson (far left) and his buddies on a successful Koskela trip.
most important reason for
being out there.
Is it only about catching
dinner? If that’s the case, why are
anglers and hunters spending
$50 billion a year in the pursuit?
In trying to capture the
essence of it all, you have to
look at what does it mean to
you? Is it the memories? The
experiences?
What do you remember
most about that salmon trip
you and your son/daughter
took after graduation a few
years ago? Or that last trip
with grampa. It’s not the meals
of salmon you remember. It’s
about the memories.
Being with your best friend
when he lands that 364-pound
halibut; seeing that monster
come to the surface, hearing,
“Cheesus
Kee-rist” from
the guide with 30 years of
experience in Alaska?
Sitting in a boat in the middle
of the Columbia River—at
dawn—watching the sun creep
over the mountain, burn the
fog off the water, and the river
comes to life with hundreds of
boats, birds and salmon.
Being with a good friend,
above 6,000 feet, deep in the
wilderness country, watching
him fulfi ll a once-in-a-lifetime
experience taking a trophy
Rocky Mountain bighorn
sheep.
The agony of a 40-plus-
pound King salmon spitting the
hook three feet from the guides
net.
Heading out early on the
Pacifi c for tuna, watching a full
moon turn the ocean surface
into a gigantic, golden mirror
as it slowly sinks below the
horizon.
The brilliant fl uorescent
fl ashes of a 100-pound yellowfi n
tuna, as it circles against the
power of the heavy rod and reel
in the Sea of Cortez.
Battle a nine-foot Columbia
River white sturgeon until your
arms and back scream for mercy,
only to caress the historic
creature and turn it loose.
All these experiences were
had with guides. It was not
about fi sh to eat, although, we
love to eat fi sh.
It has to be about the
memories. Experiences you
shared with someone you love.
Experiences you had with
friends, family, or even with
4-5 anglers you have never met
before.
A $200 trip on the ocean or
Columbia expensive? A little
rough math: boat and trailer,
easily, $50,000-$80,000. Truck
to pull boat, $40-$60,000. Fuel,
rods and reels, at least a dozen to
cover all species. Reels that will
stand up to this kind of stress,
$200 and more. Rods, $100-
$200. Bait, line, lures, almost
endless.
Now, $200 a trip doesn’t
sound so bad.
Guided
hunting
trips
are expensive, running into
thousands of dollars. A good
way to save money with
hunting guides is “drop camps.”
You and your buddy do the
research, locate a prime unit in
the wilderness, and draw a tag.
Hire an outfi tter to pack
you and your gear into the
wilderness-drop you off-at a
specifi c location, and come
back and get you once the hunt
is over.
Typically, this will involve
riding horses, pack animals, and
a wrangler to do the “grunt
work.”
You can save a lot of money
and still have a great wilderness
experience.
I know guys that go to the
Shooting Hunting Outdoor
Trade (SHOT) Show in Las
Vegas and work the auctions.
They frequently buy trips
valued at several thousand
dollars for a few hundred. An
African Safari for $750? They
did it twice.
Same thing at the annual
Oregon Hunters Association
fundraiser. Guides and outfi tters
offer these trips for the publicity.
At one of these in Salem
I could have had a four-day
salmon fi shing trip at one of the
top lodges in Alaska for $250.
Unfortunately, a buddy and
I had already booked a similar
trip to Alaska, for signifi cantly
more money.
Over the past few years I
have joined several of my fi shing
buddies that have decided to
fi sh with guides. We have fi shed
our whole lives. Some have
had our own boats and gear.
We are retired, worked hard all
our lives, saved some money,
and now need help to do the
fi shing we want to do. Age and
physical limitations have forced
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